Melbourne Victory have collected their first points of the National Youth League season with a 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets on Sunday as new senior coach Jim Magilton watched on.
The newly appointed Northern Irishman was on hand at Kingston Heath as goals from Luke O’Dea and Jean Carlos Solorzano gave Victory their first win of the campaign after nine straight losses.
Senior prospects Matthew Kemp, Solorzano, Isaka Cernak and Marco Rojas all started and the latter trio was particularly impressive in the time they spent on the pitch against a lacklustre Jets outfit.
Despite the victors enjoying the better of the first half, it was the Jets who went closest first as Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas was forced to deny David Talevski’s sweeping effort on four minutes.
O’Dea scuffed a shot straight at Jack Duncan after captain James Jeggo’s through ball soon after, while Solorzano headed a corner onto the roof of the net.
New Zealander Rojas also had a good chance but his first touch let him down to see a one-on-one with Duncan go begging, and Solorzano hit a powerful strike narrowly over.
The Costa Rican drew a save from Duncan after a brilliant passing move involving himself, Rojas and Cernak, before O’Dea opened the scoring in the 37th minute.
It appeared as though Victory had wasted another glorious chance before a sloppy touch from a Jets defender fell into the path of O’Dea, whose low drive gave him his third goal of the season.
The dangerous O’Dea headed a tough chance over on the hour-mark, while Jets attacker James Virgili forced Thomas into a diving save with a curling effort that was headed for the top corner.
Jeggo forced another strong save from Duncan as the Jets, pushing forward but struggling to break down a compact Victory defence, left themselves open at the back.
Jets striker Chris Payne posed a constant threat with his strength, but he was tightly marked and often left with too much to do.
Victory substitute Damir Lokvancic had a glorious chance to seal the points for Darren Davies’ side, but his shot in a one-on-one with Duncan was tame.
Solorzano would not make the same mistake when released by substitute James Riccobene, placing into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 after 78 minutes.
In a completely dominant display, Victory looked the more likely to add another as they ran out comfortable winners.
Melbourne Victory 2 (O’Dea 37, Solorzano 78)
Newcastle Jets 0
